Happy New Year
by Tanya Reed
Summary: Kate and Rick are going to a party, but the one they end up at is not the one they were expecting.


Happy New Year

by Tanya Reed

Notes: I have no idea why I'm writing a New Year's Eve story at this time of year. The story came to me and I went with it. Every once in awhile, I get the urge to write a happily-ever-after future fic. I'm afraid to say that this is one of those times. I'm not sure what you guys will make of this one, or whether anyone will actually like it. All I can say is that it made me happy to write it. I want to thank my awesome beta phalangesbyfive. This story is certainly better because of her.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Castle.

Kate smiled at herself in the mirror as she added earrings to tastefully done make up and gently styled hair. Green eyes full of anticipation twinkled back at her. Despite the fact that she didn't usually like to get dressed up, tonight it made her feel good.

Behind her, her new dress lay on the bed, waiting patiently. After one last look to make sure everything was perfect, she got up and turned to it.

"Are you almost ready?" Rick bustled in, looking almost as excited as she felt. And handsome. Even after seven years of marriage, her heart still sped up at the sight of him in a suit.

"Almost. I just have to put on the dress."

He grinned as his eyes flicked to it. "Love that dress."

He had been saying that ever since she brought it home. It was both elegant and slightly racy, with tasteful glimpses of skin and fabric that gently accentuated her curves.

"If I can get out of the house with it in tact."

His grin turned to a soft laugh. She loved the way it made his eyes sparkle.

"You'd better get out of here," she warned, "or we'll be late for the party, and I know how much you've been looking forward to it."

His eyes traveled slowly up her scantily clad form. "Not that much."

She was about to answer him when there was a loud crash.

"You'd better get down there before they wreck the place."

He glanced at the door and then back at her.

"Rick."

"I'm on it."

As he disappeared, Kate reached for the dress. Her fingers gently caressed the soft silk before she slipped it over her head. She couldn't resist one look in the mirror to see how it looked. The beautiful woman who stared back at her hardly seemed like the same one that hunted the streets for the nastiest criminals in New York. A corner of her mouth quirked up in pleased amusement, and she suddenly found herself in the image.

Another loud noise was enough to propel her from the room and down the stairs. Three bodies wrestled on the floor below. One was long and the other two, much smaller, were jumping on it as if it were a trampoline.

"Mercy...mercy..." Rick's laughing voice came from underneath the two bouncing children.

"Have you overpowered your father again?" Kate asked, not even trying to hide her own laughter.

The children stopped jumping, and both of their faces turned towards Kate. Her daughters shared the same eyes and the same dark hair, but, other than that, they were completely different. The younger one had a round, dimpled face and looked a lot like Alexis. The older one had many of Kate's mother's features and many of Kate's own facial expressions.

"Oh, Mommy, you look so pretty!" Brooke, the older of the girls, exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

Rick's face became visible, and he added decisively, "I agree."

"What do you think, Alannah?" Kate asked. "Do you approve?"

"You're wearing a dress." She sounded so surprised that Kate had to fight to keep her face serious.

"You don't like it?"

"You don't like wearing dresses."

"Sometimes it's fun to dress up. Even for Mommy," she told her.

"Well, it's nice. You should wear a dress every day."

"Don't be so silly," Brooke scolded. "She couldn't chase bad guys in a dress. She'd fall."

"But she'd look nice doing it," Rick said, rolling Alannah off of his stomach.

"She wouldn't fall," Alannah argued. "Daddy would catch her."

Being a stay-at-home dad, Rick didn't get to go on as many cases as he had before the kids came along. Still, with Alannah in pre-school and Kate's having promised Sarah Montgomery's father that the teen would have babysitting money to pay for clothes and phone minutes, Rick was still out there chasing murderers three or four times a week. This seemed to be the best of both worlds for the girls.

"Is that true, writer boy?" Kate asked in amusement. "Would you catch me?"

The phone rang, interrupting his answer.

"I'll get it," Alannah yelled, running over to where the phone was inexplicably sticking out from under a cushion on the couch.

Kate took this opportunity to reach down and help her husband to his feet. He smiled impishly, making him seem almost as young as the children.

"Hi, Gram!" Alannah said into the phone, her voice still just a little too loud. "Yes, he's here." Then, she looked at Rick. "Gram wants to talk to you."

Kate barely heard the "uh-oh" that her husband mumbled under his breath.

"Hello, Mother." Kate knew what was happening as soon as she saw Rick's face fall. "Are you okay?...Are you sure...?...Yes, you're right...Feel better."

"Martha's canceling?" Kate asked.

"It seems Mother has the flu."

"Is Gram going to be all right?" Brooke asked, the worry plain on her small face. "Is she really sick?"

"She sounded funny," Alannah told her, "like she had something up her nose."

"Gram wouldn't shove something up her nose!"

"That's true," Rick said, interrupting what could have easily turned into a heated argument. "Gram didn't have something up her nose. It's just stuffed up."

"But is she going to be okay?"

"She's going to be fine." He put his hand firmly on the girl's shoulder. "She just has a touch of the flu. Remember when you were throwing up and sneezing last month?"

Brooke nodded.

"You were fine after, and Gram will be too."

This answer seemed to satisfy her, and Kate breathed an inner sigh of relief. Kate had been hurt quite badly on the job a few years before and, even though Brooke probably didn't remember it, Kate was always on the lookout for some hidden trauma.

As soon as he saw that Brooke was satisfied, Rick began dialing the phone.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked.

"We don't have a babysitter."

"Alexis?"

He shook his head. "She's got a date."

So did Sarah, it turned out, and every other person they knew. Rick called until his finger was sore. After the third or fourth person, Kate kicked off her heels and settled on the couch. The girls settled with her, Brooke beside her and Alannah in her lap.

Eventually, Rick said, "Well, that was the last of them. Everyone we know that's not dead or out of state."

"You can always stay home with us, Daddy," Alannah told him. "We could have our own party."

The corner of Rick's mouth quirked. "What do you think, Kate?"

"It sounds like fun", she said, giving Alannah a little squeeze.

The child wiggled a little bit and asked, "Can I wear my new dress?"

Kate wasn't sure about that one, but Rick cut off any protest she might have made. "Sure, Pumpkin. Get dolled up."

"I don't have to wear a dress, do I?" Brooke asked warily.

"It's a party, Sweetie," Kate told her. "You can wear whatever you want."

"You girls go get changed," Rick said. "I'm going to go in the kitchen and get some party snacks."

As the rest of her family scattered in different directions, Kate went to the game cupboard. The girls—and Rick, she had to admit—loved to play boardgames on family night. She knew there was no way they'd get through the night without them. She picked out six of their favorites and brought them over to the coffee table. When she set them down, she spied the TV remote. She clicked on the countdown, putting it on mute so they could check the time without interrupting their games.

Rick came in then with his hands full of snacks, both healthy and unhealthy. When Kate raised her eyebrows, he just answered, "It's a party."

The girls came bouncing back while Rick was still setting out the snacks. Kate smiled at their festive looks. Not only had Alannah put on her new pink dress, she had also put a pink bow in her hair. Even so, her feet were bare. Brooke had gone a less traditional route. She was wearing jeans and her favorite t-shirt. Her dark hair was hidden beneath a purple ball cap that Alexis had given her for her birthday.

"Who are these gorgeous girls, Kate?" Rick asked, pretending to be stunned.

Alannah laughed. "It's us, Daddy. Do you like my new dress?"

"It looks great."

"Will we get to stay up til midnight?" Brooke asked. "I want to see what happens."

"Sure! It's a New Year's Eve party. We can't go to bed before the New Year gets here."

Brooke's face lit up.

Kate didn't know if letting the girls stay up that late was wise, but none of them had anywhere to be the next day. She did want to check on Martha, despite Rick's assurances to Brooke, but that could be done after a good, long sleep.

Alannah saw the games on the table and asked. "Are we going to play? Who gets to pick?"

She looked at Brooke, who answered generously, "You can."

"Connect Four!"

Alannah always wanted to play Connect Four, even though Brooke almost always beat her. She loved the challenge, and Rick said she got that from Kate.

"You two play, and I'll play the winner," Rick suggested.

Kate watched the girls as they played, their little faces intent with concentration. Alannah looked almost like Rick when he was trying to figure out a particularly tricky plot problem.

The game went quickly, and it wasn't long before Brooke announced triumphantly, "Connect Four."

Alannah scrunched up her face in displeasure but, to her credit, she just said, "Your turn, Daddy."

They ended up playing eight games. Brooke won four of them, Rick won two, Kate won one, and Alannah won the last one. As she clunked her red checker in the hole, she jumped to her feet and started to dance.

"I won! I won!"

"Good job," Brooke told her graciously. She could afford to be gracious because Alannah's game was against their father.

Rick grabbed up his ecstatic daughter and danced her joyfully around the room. Kate watched them in delight for a moment, remembering how her father used to dance her around much the same way. Then, she picked up Brooke so the child wouldn't feel left out. As they twirled around, Brooke began to giggle.

The four of them danced around until the adults were breathless. Kate was the first one to give in. She set Brooke's feet on the floor, and the slight girl continued to dance. Her purple hat had been an earlier victim of the night, and so her dark hair bobbed wildly as she moved with abandon.

Rick let Alannah down, and she joined her sister, twirling to music only the two of them could hear.

It was several minutes before Brooke collapsed onto the couch and yawned. "How much time until midnight, Mom?"

Kate glanced at the TV. "Two hours and ten minutes."

Alannah settled in beside her sister and yawned even wider. "Wow, it takes a long time for the New Year to come."

"Are you ready to go to bed?"

"No!" both girls said in unison.

"Then how about a movie? We've got just enough time for one before the ball drops."

"A ball drops?" Brooke asked.

"Who gets to pick the movie?" Alannah asked at the same time.

Rick grinned at Brooke. "You'll see, Pumpkin."

"The movie, Daddy. Who gets to pick the movie?" Brooke grabbed his attention.

"Why don't we let Mom pick?"

"Me? I get to pick the movie?" Kate widened her eyes in mock surprise. "I don't believe it."

"Let's watch The Princess and the Frog!" Alannah said quickly.

"I want to watch something with animals," Brooke protested.

"It's got animals."

"Not the right kind of..."

Kate held up her hand. "Wait. Don't I get to pick?"

She settled in between her daughters. Alannah immediately crawled into her lap.

"What do you want to watch?" Brooke asked her solemnly.

"Hmmnn...That's a tough one. How about Mark and Teddie?"

She picked a movie that she knew both girls loved. It was a story of friendship and courage, and Kate liked it too, even after the sheer number of times she'd seen it.

"Oh, that's a good one!" Alannah said happily.

"Brooke?"

"I like that one."

"Great!" Rick rubbed his hands together and went to get the movie all set up.

Alannah wiggled around a bit until she was in a more comfortable position, and Brooke snuggled in close to Kate's side. Rick came and sat on the other side of Brooke, the remote in his hand.

"Are we ready?"

"We're ready," Brooke assured him.

He pressed play and, as the girls began to immerse themselves in fantasy, he smiled warmly at Kate. She answered the smile with one of her own.

The girls didn't make it through the movie. Before long, Alannah was snoring softly in Kate's arms, and Brooke's droopy head was on her father's shoulder. All was quiet and Kate dimmed the lamp beside her on the end table. The room was in semi-darkness as the movie ended and Rick took her fingers in his.

They sat quietly in shared peace as the TV once more showed a silent countdown. Contentment settled around Kate. She didn't need to speak and neither did he. She thought that was probably one of the best things about loving someone who knew her so well, especially when the rest of her life was filled with such chaos.

She was almost asleep when Rick's fingers tightened. Kate opened eyes that had drifted closed to see the timer counting down the last ten seconds.

"Seven..." she started lowly, and Rick's voice mingled with hers. "Six...Five...Four...Three...Two...One."

"Happy New Year, Rick," she added.

"Happy New Year, Kate."

He awkwardly moved towards her, trying not to disturb the children. She met him half way, and they shared a soft, gentle kiss.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know this night didn't turn out the way you expected."

Kate settled back into place, glancing down at Alannah. Then, she studied Brooke, whose arm had flung across her father's chest in response to his movement. Finally, her eyes came to rest on his. They were shadowed in the dim light, but she knew them by heart.

"That's true," she admitted. "It was better."

The end.


End file.
